Part XIV.
The Fifth Proof That the Sunna is Probative: It is Unfeasible to Act Solely On the
Basis of the Qur'an

It is impossible for any human being upon whom divine revelation did not descend with
Allah's support, to understand the Shari`a, its details, and its rulings autonomously,
from the Qur'an alone. It is therefore inevitable that one must look into the Sunna which
was revealed together with the Qur'an and the Sunna which the Prophet -- Allah bless and
greet him -- inferred from striving to understand the Qur'an, in which inferring he
received divine confirmation.

One must therefore avail oneself of the Sunna in order to understand Allah Almighty's
meaning and infer the details of rulings from the Qur'an, because the Sunna is the only
path to achieve that objective. If the Sunna were not probative then this would not be the
case. Nor would it be correct for any of those who exert scholarly striving to look into
the Sunna and avail himself of it toward that end. As a result no-one would have
understood what exactly they are held responsible for, the rulings would have been
disregarded, the legal liabilities (al-takalif) would have been cancelled and in vain, all
of which is absurd and impossible on the part of Allah Almighty and Exalted.

What makes it clear that it is impossible for a mujtahid to rely solely on the Qur'an
to extract what we mentioned, is that because the Qur'an has reached such a level of
miraculous inimitability (i`jaz) and the farthest limit of eloquence and economy, it
contains many secondary meanings, treasure troves and secrets, many of which are known
only to Him Whose Speech this is, and to him upon whom their exposition was descended and
revealed -- Allah bless and greet him --.

Al-Bukhari narrated in this respect that when the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him
-- was asked about the status of donkeys (i.e. in comparison with horses in merit,
especially in jihad), he replied: "Nothing was revealed to me concerning them except
this all-encompassing, peerless verse: {And whoso does good an atom's weight will see it
then, and whoso does ill an atom's weight will see it then} (99:7-8)."1 Consider how
the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- took the ruling concerning donkeys from that
verse, and is anyone else able to do this?2

Furthermore, the Qur'an contains stipulations that are summarized (mujmala) and others
that are complex (mushkila). It is therefore necessary, in order to put them into
practice, to have an explanation that expounds, clarifies, interprets, and explains them.
It is further necessary that such an exposition come from Allah Almighty and Exalted
because it is He that has thrust responsibility upon His servants and therefore He knows
what is being meant before anyone else. And this explanation is the Sunna that revelation
brought or upon which Allah Almighty and Exalted confirmed His Prophet -- Allah bless and
greet him -- if it originated in elucidatory striving on his part. Hence Allah Almighty
and Exalted said {And We have revealed unto you the Remembrance that you may explain to
mankind that which has been revealed for them} (16:44).

Following are some examples for the unfeasibility of acting solely on the basis of the
Qur'an.

- Allah Almighty and Exalted said: {Establish prayer (salat) and pay the poor-due
(zakat)} (2:43, 2:83, 2:110, 4:77, 24:56, 73:20). From this it is understood that both
prayer and the poor-due are obligatory. However: what is the exact description of this
obligatory prayer? What is its modality? What is its timing? What is its quantity and
number? Upon whom is it obligatory? How many times is it obligatory in one's lifetime? And
what is the exact description of this poor-due? Upon whom is it obligatory? Concerning
what kind of property is it obligatory? What is its amount? And what is the condition of
its obligatoriness?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {So (give) glory to Allah when you enter the
night and when you enter the morning} (30:17). We understand from this the obligatoriness
of giving glory and its time in general terms. However: what is meant by such
glorification? Is it the same as prayer in His saying {Establish prayer}? Or is it
something else, such as saying: subhan Allah?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {Recite, then, of the Quran that which is easy
for you} (73:20). We understand from this the obligatoriness of reciting whatever is easy
for us of the Qur'an. However: what is meant by such recitation? Is it the same as prayer?
Or is it mere recitation of the Qur'an? If it means prayer, is one rak`a sufficient? And
if one rak`a is sufficient, what are the actions which such a rak`a consists in?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {O you who believe! Bow down and prostrate
yourselves} (22:77). We understand from this the obligatoriness of bowing down and
prostrating. However, what is their exact modality and what is precisely meant by such
bowing and prostrating? Are they the same as prayer or something else? If what is meant by
them is prayer, then is the number of bows and the number of prostrations in it equal? Or
is one superior to the other?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {Lo! Allah and His angels make salat upon the
Prophet. O you who believe! Make salat upon him and salute him with a worthy
salutation}
(33:56). Is what is meant by this salat the very same as the prayer which Allah Almighty
and Exalted made obligatory upon us when He said {Establish prayer}? Or is it something
different? And in what does it consist when it proceeds from Allah and His angels as
opposed to when it proceeds from us?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it
not in the way of Allah, unto them give tidings (O Muhammad) of a painful doom} (9:34). We
understand from this the prohibition of hoarding up gold and silver and not spending it.
However: what is meant by "spending" here as opposed to hoarding up?3 Does it
consist in spending the entire amount of one's property as the Companions understood it
when the verse was revealed? Or does it mean spending part of one's property? And what is
the precise amount of that part?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {Perform to completion the pilgrimage (al-hajj)
and the visit (al-`umra) (to Mecca) for Allah} (2:196). We understand from this the
obligatoriness of performing to completion hajj and `umra. However: what is meant by hajj
and `umra? Does it consist in the totality of what the Arabs used to do in the Time of
Ignorance or in something else and what would that be? And how many times are they
obligatory in one's lifetime?

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {Those who believe and obscure not their belief
by wrong-doing, theirs is safety and they are rightly-guided} (6:82). What is meant here
by the wrong-doing the preclusion of which Allah made a precondition for the obtainment of
safety and right guidance? Does it mean the totality of the various types of wrong-doing
as the Companions understood it, or only a specific type, and what would the latter be?4

- Allah Almighty and Exalted also said: {As for the thief, both male and female, cut
off their hands/arms. It is the reward of their own deeds, an exemplary punishment from
Allah. Allah is Mighty, Wise}5:38). We understand by this the obligation of severing the
hand/arm (yad) of each of them. However: what is the nature of the theft that makes such
cutting off obligatory? Is it what is meant lexically by theft under in all its varieties
or something else? And if the latter, then what exactly? And what are its conditions? What
is the rate of the amount of property the stealing of which makes cutting off the hand or
arm obligatory? And what is the modality of this cutting off? Is the limb cut off from the
shoulder-joint? From the wrist? From the elbow? Is the cutting off repeated upon
recidivism?

There are many such examples in the Glorious Qur'an. Try to empty your mind from all
that the Sunna explicitly provided in the way of explanation pertaining to the above
verses as well as what the jurists mentioned on the basis of the Sunna through analogy
(qiyas) and other methods of elucidating the Sunna. Then see if anyone is able to answer
to a single question among those we have mentioned above, and other questions of the same
type. And supposing one is able to answer to some of the questions about these necessary
issues, can he answer them all? And if no-one can do that, can we then fulfill those
responsibilities thrust upon us? And is it rationally conceivable that Allah Sublime and
Exalted should task us with responsibilities which He has concealed from us, and made us
blind as to what He meant by them? Would it not be the height of absurdity and nonsense to
claim that such as this issued from Allah Almighty?

All of the above shows that Allah Almighty and Exalted did not task us with these
responsibilities which He listed in broad terms in His Book - in the full knowledge that
our minds fall short of understanding His meaning - except that He first put in place an
elucidator and patent explainer in charge of clarifying all these matters. This is Allah's
Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him --. And He did this by means of His revelation and
His support.

The following excerpt from Ibn Hazm on the principles of the Law illustrates what we
just said:

Where in the Qur'an does it state that:

- Zuhr prayer is four rak`as?
- Maghrib is three rak`as?
- Ruku` is done in such-and-such a way?
- Sujud is done in such-and-such a way?
- Qur'anic recitation in the prayer is done in such-and-such a way?
- Salam is given at the conclusion of prayer, in such-and-such a way?
- What one must avoid when fasting?
- The modality of zakat for gold and silver, sheep, camels, and cattle?
- The determination of the zakatable capitals and amount of their zakat?
- The rituals of hajj from the time one stands in `Arafa?
- The modality of prayer at `Arafa and Muzdalifa?
- The modality of stoning at the three jimar in Mina?
- The description of the pilgrim's sacralized state (ihram)?
- What must be avoided in ihram?
- The amputation of the thief's limb?
- The definition of the breast-feeding that creates non-marriageable kinship?5
- What prepared foods are prohibited to eat?
- The description and definition of butchering and sacrificial slaughters?
- The modalities of penal rulings (ahkam al-hudud)?
- The description of the enactment of divorce?
- The rulings that pertain to selling?
- The exposition of usurious transactions (al-riba)?
- The modalities of juristic verdicts and appeals?
- Those of solemn oaths, water-dams (al-ahbas), life tenancy resulting in ownership of the
tenant's heirs (al-`umra), collection of legal alms (al-sadaqat), and all the other topics
of the Law?

We find in the Qur'an only comprehensive clauses (jumal). If we were left with them, we
would not know how to apply them. In all this, the reference is none other than what is
transmitted from the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him --. It is the same with
scholarly Consensus (al-ijma`) for the latter formed over but a few matters which we all
gathered in a single book.6 ... Therefore, it is indispensable to refer back to the
hadith. And if someone were to say: "We do not take except what we find in the
Qur'an," that person would be an apostate by consensus of the Community, and would
not thereby be obligated to pray more than one rak`a between the going down of the sun and
the dark of night, and another one at dawn [cf. 17:78]. For this is the least that has
been called salat, and there is no limit (hadd) set for the most in that chapter. One who
follows such a position is an idolatrous disbeliever (kafir mushrik) whose life and
property are licit. The only ones to go that path are some of the extremist Rafidis upon
whose apostasy consensus has formed in the Community. And success is from Allah Almighty
and Exalted. Now, should someone follow only what the entire Community has agreed upon and
nothing else, leaving all that they differed about with regard to what the texts mention:
such a person is a transgressor (fasiq) by consensus of the Community. These two
preliminaries make it obligatory to accept what is transmitted.7

We have already cited several hadiths in illustration of the principles in this
chapter.8 Below we also quote some of the countless Companion-reports and reports of the
Salaf to that effect.

- Abu Bakr - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "What earth could carry me,
what heaven could shade me if I spoke about a single verse of Allah's Book according to my
mere opinion or to say something of which I have no knowledge?"9

- `Umar - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "I only fear for you two matters:
A man that interprets the Qur'an in a way other than the interpretation in which it is
meant, and a man who vies with his brother in acquiring property."10

- He also said: "I do not fear for this Community a believer whose faith holds him
in check nor a dissolute man whose corruption is evident. However, I fear for it a man who
read the Qur'an until he slickened his tongue with it, then he misconstrues it."11

- He also said: "Beware of those who put forward opinions (ashabal-ra'i) for they
are the enemies of the Sunna. They have despaired of memorizing the Prophet's -- Allah
bless and greet him -- narrations and have resorted to forwarding opinions. As a result
they went astray and misguided others."12

- He also said: "Certain people shall appear who will dispute with you concerning
the Qur'an: reply to them with the Sunan. For the possessors of the Sunan are the most
knowledgeable about Allah's Book."13 `Ali - Allah be well-pleased with him - said the
same thing to Ibn `Abbas - Allah be well-pleased with him - when he sent him to debate the
Khawarij: "Do not argue with them by means of the Qur'an for it bears many
interpretations (innahu dhu wujuh), but argue with them by means of the Sunna."14
Another version states that Ibn `Abbas said: "O Commander of the believers, I know
the Qur'an better than them for it is in our homes that it was revealed," whereupon
`Ali replied: "You said the truth, but the Qur'an is comprehensive in its phrasing
(jammal) and bears many interpretations. You will say [it means one thing] and they will
say [it means another]. Rather, argue with them by means of the Sunan, for they will not
be able to find an escape from them."15

- Ibn Mas`ud - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "You must hold fast to
knowledge [= Sunna] before it is taken away. This taking away consists in the departure of
those who possess it. None of you knows when he shall sorely need one of them, or needs
what he has. Verily you shall encounter a people who claim that they are calling you unto
Allah's Book when in fact they have tossed it behind their backs. So hold fast to
knowledge, beware of innovating (al-tabaddu`), beware of excessive contention
(al-tanattu`), and beware of deep involvement (al-ta`ammuq). Hold fast to the ancient
(al-`atiq)."16

- Mu`awiya - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "Truly the most seductive
misguidance (aghra al-dalala) is for a man to read the Qur'an without understanding it,
then he teaches it to boys, slaves, women, and slave-girls who then take to arguing with
the people of knowledge over it."17

- `Imran ibn Husayn - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "The Qur'an was
revealed and Allah's Messenger instituted the Sunan." Then he said: "Follow us
[Companions] or, by Allah! if you do not, you shall go astray."18

- While `Imran ibn Husayn was relating hadiths from the Prophet -- Allah bless and
greet him --, a man said to him: "O Abu Nujayd! Talk to us from the Qur'an."
Whereupon `Imran said to him: "You and your friends all read the Qur'an, so can you
tell me about the salat, what it contains specifically and what its features are? Can you
tell me in what consists the zakat for gold? camels? cows? the different types of goods?
No. But I witnessed it, and you were not there." Then he said: "Allah's
Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him -- imposed upon us such-and-such in the zakat
etc." The man said: "You have given me new life, may Allah Almighty and Exalted
give you new life also!" Al-Hasan said: "This man did not die before he had
become one of the authoritative jurists of the Muslims."19

- Another version states: The people were rehearsing the narrations of hadith whereupon
a man stood and said: "Enough of that, bring us something from Allah's Book!"
`Imran ibn Husayn became angry and said: "You are an idiot! Allah Almighty and
Exalted mentioned zakat in His Book; where then, is it mentioned that it consists in 5
parts out of every two hundred? Allah Almighty and Exalted mentioned salat in His Book;
where then is it mentioned that zuhr consists in four rak`as?" Then he mentioned all
the other prayers. He continued: "Allah mentioned circumambulation in His Book; where
then did He say that tawaf consists in seven circumambulations? And where did He say that
coursing between Safa and Marwa is sevenfold? We rule according to what is there [i.e. in
the Qur'an], but the Sunna explains it."20

- A third version states: A man questioned the Companion `Imran ibn Husayn. When the
latter answered him, the man said: "Talk to us from Allah's Book and do not talk to
us from other than it." `Imran said: "You are an idiot! Can you find it in
Allah's Book that zuhr is four rak`as in which one does not recite loud?" He went on
to enumerate prayer, zakat, and other than that, then said: "Do you find all these
explained in Allah's Book? Rather, Allah's Book has ruled all this, and the Sunna explains
it."21

- Similarly one of `Imran's students, Mutarrif ibn `Abd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir replied:
"By Allah! We certainly do not seek a substitute for the Qur'an, but only him who is
more knowledgeable of the Qur'an than we."22 Meaning: Allah's Messenger -- Allah
bless and greet him --.

- A man asked `Abd Allah ibn `Umar - Allah be well-pleased with him -: "O Abu `Abd
al-Rahman, we find the prayer of fear (salat al-khawf) and the prayer of residence
(salat
al-hadar) in the Qur'an, but we do not find the prayer of travel (salat
al-safar)."
Ibn `Umar replied: "Dear cousin: Allah Almighty and Exalted sent forth Muhammad --
Allah bless and greet him -- and we knew nothing. So we only do whatever we saw him
do."23

- Similarly Jabir ibn `Abd Allah - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "Allah's
Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him -- was among us while the Qur'an was being revealed
to him and he knew its explanation. Whatever he put into practice, we put into
practice."24

- `Abd Allah ibn `Umar met Jabir ibn Zayd in tawaf and told him: "O Abu
al-Sha`tha', you are one of the fuqaha' of Basra: therefore do not give any response
except with the speaking Qur'an (biqur'anin natiqin) or a Sunna that has precedent
(sunnatin madiya). If you do otherwise, you have perished and caused others to
perish."25

- Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman - Allah be well-pleased with him - said: "Only three types
of persons give fatwas to people: A man who is either an Imam or a governor, and a man who
can tell the abrogating verses of the Qur'an from the abrogated." They asked:
"Who is such a man?" He said: "`Umar ibn al-Khattab. Other than those three
types, there are only overreaching fools."26

- Imam al-Shafi`i said: "Most of what is abrogated in Allah's Book is known only
through the indications of the Sunan of Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him
--."27

- Another Tabi`i, Sa`id ibn Jubayr, was narrating a hadith of the Prophet -- Allah
bless and greet him -- whereupon a man said: "There is something opposite to this in
Allah's Book." Sa`id replied: "Do not, when I narrate to you from Allah's
Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him --, claim a contradiction with Allah's Book. For
Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him -- was more knowledgeable of Allah's Book
than you."28

- Another Tabi`i, Hassan ibn `Atiyya, said: "Revelation would descend upon Allah's
Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him -- and Gibril - peace upon him - would also tell
him the Sunna that expounded it."29

- Another Tabi`i, Maymun ibn Mahran, said: "Truly this Qur'an has been torn to
tatters (akhlaqa) in many breasts. Therefore, learn the hadiths that are beside it. Truly
there are some who seek this knowledge as a commodity for worldly gain, while others learn
it for self-display, and others to be pointed at. But the best of them are those who learn
it in order to obey Allah by means of it."30 Ibn `Abd al-Barr said: "By the
words `this Qur'an has been torn to tatters' he means - and Allah knows best - that its
interpretation has been torn to tatters except that by means of the narrations of the
practicing Salaf. So its interpretation is limited to whatever sound hadiths are narrated
from them and excludes what people come up with in their minds or dispute about in their
opinions, in the fashion of those who follow their lusts."31

- The Tabi`i Abu Wa'il Shaqiq ibn Salama said: "Do not sit with those who say:
`But what if' (ara'ayt)." Similarly the Tabi`i al-Sha`bi said: "There is no
expression more hateful to me than `But what if'" and "Those that came before
you perished because of `But what if'."32

- The Tabi`i Ayyub al-Sikhtyani said: "If you tell someone of a Sunna and he then
says: `Never mind this, tell us from the Qur'an': Know that that person is gone astray
(dall)."33

- Al-Sha`bi said: "Those before you perished only when their paths multiplied and
they diverged from the main road, leaving the transmitted reports (al-athar) behind. They
went astray and misguided others."34

- One of Hassan ibn `Atiyya's students, Imam al-Awza`i, similarly said: "The Book
stands more in need of the Sunna than the Sunna stands in need of the Book."36 Ibn
`Abd al-Barr explains: "He means that the Sunna presupposes the Book and expounds its
purport, and this is the meaning of the saying of the scholars: `The Book has left a spot
or the Sunna, and the Sunna has left a spot for [qualified] opinion.'"37

- Another Tabi`i, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, said: "The Sunna adjudicates on
(qadiya `ala) the Qur'an, but not the Qur'an on the Sunna." Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "I do
not go so far as to say that the Sunna adjudicates on the Qur'an, but the Sunna expounds
the Book and explains it."38

- `Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said: "A man stands more in need of the Sunna than he
stands in need of food and drink."39

- Imam Ahmad further said: "The Sunna in our definition consists in the reports
transmitted from Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him --, and the Sunna is the
commentary (tafsir) of the Qur'an and contains its directives (dala'il)."40

Imam Ahmad further said: "Allah revealed His Book to His Prophet -- Allah bless
and greet him -- and made the latter the indicator (al-dall) of both its outward meaning
(zahiruhu) and its hidden meaning (batinuhu); its specific meaning
(khassuhu) and its
general meaning (`ammuhu); its abrogating verses (nasikhuhu) and its abrogated ones
(mansukhuhu); and all that the Book purports. So Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and
greet him -- was the expounder (al-mu`abbir) of Allah's Book, indicating its meanings. His
Companions witnessed him in this act, the very same men whom Allah Almighty and Exalted
was content to choose as his Companions and elect for him. They transmitted all this from
him. Therefore, they were, of all people, the most knowledgeable of Allah's Messenger --
Allah bless and greet him -- and of what Allah Almighty and Exalted meant by His Book, by
witnessing him and watching firsthand that which the Book addressed. Therefore, they were
the expounders of all this after Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him --. Thus
did Jabir say: "Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him -- was among us while
the Qur'an was being revealed to him and he knew its explanation. Whatever he put into
practice, we put into practice."41

2The commentators said that this means that whatever end to which the donkeys are used
for determines their legal status as instruments of good or evil. Ibn Hajar said in
commentary upon this hadith: "It provides a firm affirmation for basing practice on
the external senses of the general statement (al-`amal bizawahir al-`umum) and the binding
nature of the latter until the proof of specificity (dalil al-takhsis) is pointed out.
There is also in the hadith an indication of the difference between a specific ruling
explicitly stipulated (al-hukm al-khass al-mansus) and a general ruling in external terms
(al-`amm al-zahir), the latter being inferior to the former as an evidentiary proof."

3The Sunna reveals that is meant by the "spending" stipulated here is the
zakat.

4The Sunna reveals that what is meant by "wrong-doing" here is shirk.

5The best detailed summation of this topic from the two perspectives of the legal
rulings of the Four Schools and their evidences is Dr. Sa`d al-Mirsafi's Ahadith al-Rida`
Hujjiyyatuha wa Fiqhuha ("The Hadiths of Breastfeeding: Their Probativeness and
Jurisprudence") (Kuwait and Beirut: al-Manar and al-Rayyan, 1994).

9Narrated from Ibn Abi Mulayka and `A'isha by Ibn al-Qayyim in
I`lam al-Muwaqqi`in
(1:53-54, 1:82, 2:184) who declared it sound (sahih). Cf. Imam al-Shafi`i's similar
remark: After al-Shafi'i narrated a hadith to a man who asked him about a certain matter
the latter said: "Do you also say the same?" whereupon al-Shafi'i seemed jolted,
his color changed, and he said: "Woe to you! What earth would carry me, what heaven
would shade me if I narrated from Allah's Messenger -- Allah bless and greet him --
something but did not adhere to it? Yes, I adhere to it heart and soul! Yes, I adhere to
it heart and soul!" Narrated by al-Hakim as cited by Ibn al-Qayyim in I'lam
al-Muwaqqi'in (2:286).

18Narrated by Ahmad with a weak chain because of `Ali ibn Zayd - although al-Tirmidhi
considers him truthful (saduq).

19Narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri by Abu Dawud in his Sunan with a chain declared sound
by Ibn Hajar in Lisan al-Mizan (1:3) and by al-Hakim (1:109-110) with a sound chain as
confirmed by al-Dhahabi. Cf. al-Suyuti, Miftah al-Janna (p. 73 #131, p. 23-25 #23).

20Narrated by Abu Nadra by Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd (p. 23).

21Narrated from Abu Nadra by Ibn al-Mubarak in his Musnad (p. 143), al-Ajurri in
al-Shari`a (p. 51), and Ibn `Abd al-Barr in Jami` Bayan al-`Ilm (2:1192 #2348), where it
is declared authentic by al-Zuhayri.

22Narrated by Ibn `Abd al-Barr in Jami` Bayan al-`Ilm (2:1193 #2349) with a sound chain
according to al-Zuhayri.

This is the end of the Series entitled "Probativeness of the Sunna" in 15
parts posted on the Internet from the months of Muharram to Jamadi al-Awwal 1420
corresponding to the months of May to August 1999. The text is based on Dr. 'Abd al-Ghani
'Abd al-Khaliq's Hujjiyya al-Sunna (Herndon, VA: Dar al-Wafa', 1993) p. 243-253 and
278-334, translated from Arabic and annotated by Dr. Gibril F. Haddad.

Allah's blessings and peace on the Prophet Muhammad, his Family, and his Companions as
well as those who follow them to their utmost until the Day of Judgment, especially the
Four Imams of Law, the pious scholars of knowledge, and the righteous Friends of Allah,
most especially our Shaykhs in the most distinguished Naqhsbandi Way, Shah Naqshband,
Shaykh `Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani, Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi, Sultan al-Awliya Shaykh
`Abd Allah al-Daghistani, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, and those who follow their
directives faithfully. And praise belongs to Allah first and last.